Diamond miner De Beers Group estimates it sold $490-million of rough diamonds for its eighth sales cycle of this year.
The sales figure represents anticipated sales value for October 4 to 19 and is subject to adjustment.
This compares with the $522-million worth of rough diamond sales in the seventh cycle and the $467-million worth of rough diamonds sales in the eighth sales cycle of last year.
The company continues to implement a more flexible approach to rough diamond sales, owing to the restrictions on movement of people and products in various countries.
CEO Bruce Cleaver explains that, as the diamond sector prepares for the key holiday season and US consumer demand for diamond jewellery continues to perform strongly, De Beers saw further robust demand for rough diamonds in the eighth sales cycle of the year – ahead of the Diwali holiday when demand for rough diamonds is likely to be affected by the closure of polishing factories in India.